Perhaps better known to us in Britain as an opera, this is the poem that many Russians consider their greatest work. It is, in fact, a novel in verse and is considered the masterpiece of Pushkin's short life.
A children’s tale of a foolish mermaid who falls in love with a human prince? Or a wonderful exploration of how a soulless fish can move to land and become a living air spirit through the power of love? ‘A mermaid has no tears and so she suffers even more’.
Jane Austen's first published novel exploring the theme of the life and loves of two devoted sisters.Through their parallel experiences of love they learn to mix sense and sensibility in order to achieve the personal happiness they seek.
Jane Austen's novel is one of the best beloved in English fiction. Of course it reflects her permanent interest in finding the right partner for the right girl, but it is also almost a manual for creative writers today. It's far more than just the hunt for Mr Darcy.
J.M.Barrie's wonderful book for children about the boy who never grew up...a book about eternal childhood which has become an essential part of Christmas entertainment across the world.
Shaw's play emerged in 1912 and was packaged as a romantic comedy. It is much more a sharp lampoon on the rigid class structure of English society. Come and meet the first Eliza Doolittle and her mentor Professor Higgins, long before 'My Fair Lady' was ever thought of.
Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen is the only Danish writer, other than Hans Christian Andersen, to really reach a wider European audience. 'Out of Africa' is her exploration of her own experiences running a coffee-farm in Kenya.
Charlotte Bronte's best loved novel, and much more than the 'Mills and Boon' simplicity of it's romantic plot line.Here the heroine does finally get her husband but the journey of the soul is more important.And so much of Charlotte herself feeds this great novel.
Emily Bronte's only novel, often described as 'the first modern novel'. 'Wuthering Heights' contains the archetypal characters of Cathy and Heathcliff. This is the story of the Yorkshire moors, of claustrophobic isolated atmospheres and of the destruction of a family by vengeance and cruelty and its final redemption by love.
